Thousands of devotees and schoolchildren gathered at Belur Math, the global headquarters of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, on Monday to pay tribute to Swami Vivekananda on his 164th birth anniversary, which is also celebrated as National Youth Day.

The day began with Vedic chanting and Viveka Geeti by Brahmacharin of Probationers’ Training Centre, Belur Math, followed by the same by the students of Vivekananda Veda Vidyalaya, Belur Math.

Other branches of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission, founded by Swami Vivekananda, organised processions in different parts of the state, with students participating in great numbers.

At Vivekananda’s ancestral house on Gourmohan Mukherjee Street in north Calcutta, devotees and followers poured in with their tributes to mark the day.

The celebrations began with a procession at 10am, during which senior monks and performers paid their tributes, along with political leaders including Abhishek Banerjee, the national general secretary of the Trinamool Congress, and Suvendu Adhikari, the state’s leader of the Opposition from the BJP.

A Kolkata Police band paid a special tribute to the monk at the north Calcutta address where Vivekananda was born on January 12, 1863.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee paid tribute on her X handle, extending greetings to the country’s youth.

“On the occasion of the National Youth Day, which is celebrated on the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, I extend my warmest greetings to the patriotic young men and women of our country. Swamiji believed that the youth are the architects of a nation’s destiny,” she wrote.

“Let us resolve to ‘Arise, Awake, and Stop not until the goal is reached,’” the CM wrote in her post.

Elaborating on Swami Vivekananda’s influence, the CM said, “Swami Vivekananda is an inspiration for our patriotism and all social service. His ideals of love for the nation, his message of serving the poor as God (Daridra Narayan), and his teachings of unity, peace, and harmony have always inspired me.”

Across the country, leaders paid tributes to Swami Vivekananda, recalling his message to the youth, his spiritual legacy and his influence on nation-building.